At times during the last nine months the crew of Cork might have thought this moment would never arrive but on Sunday evening at 1947 local time (1847 GMT) they crossed the finish line at Kinsale; an emotional moment as they led the Clipper 09-10 Round the World Yacht Race fleet into their home port at the end of the final transatlantic crossing of the 35,000-mile contest.

After three tough races getting to grips with their new steed, the Cork crew certainly found their groove in the north Atlantic and proved once again that they are a force to be reckoned with on the water. They completed the 2,000-mile course from Cape Breton Island in a little over eight days, their corrected time from the timing gate, eight days, 30 minutes and 50 seconds. The rest of the fleet must now finish before approximately 1000 GMT in order to beat them.

A flotilla of around 40 boats greeted them as they rounded the headland flying their medium weight spinnaker, while around 2,500 people lined banks of the harbour to watch the team arrive home.

As Michael Lewis steered across the finish line, fellow round the world crew member, Kevin Austen perched at the end of the spinnaker pole. He said, "It was something else – I was up there for quite a while, but luckily Michael just managed to keep her down so there was no heeling over and tipping me off! To see that many people come out – and we weren't even expected in today – was magic. I've played a lot of rugby and a bit of football and today is by far and away the best sporting day of my life. By a mile. I'm trying to stop myself crying, to be honest!"